Florida has the opportunity to improve children’s health and educational outcomes while drawing down millions in additional federal funds for school-based Medicaid services by making a series of statutory and regulatory changes, according to a new brief by the Florida Policy Institute. Of the 2.7 million students enrolled in public schools, over 1 million are covered…
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was passed by Congress in the fall of 2015. It was a rare piece of major federal legislation that was truly a bipartisan effort- co-authored by a Republican and a Democrat. This law replaced No Child Left Behind and governs the federal role in public education primarily for elementary…
This year, the nation watched as teachers in numerous states began to walk out of schools and storm state capitals demanding better working conditions for themselves and better learning conditions for their students. Many of these states offered no collective bargaining rights yet educators were organized and angry. West Virginia teachers ended their strike after…
From WLRN: Under House Budget Plan, No Public School Funding Without Corcoran Education Bill By JESSICA BAKEMAN • JAN 31, 2018 A budget proposal that is advancing in the Legislature would make next year’s funding for Florida’s public schools contingent on the passage of Republican House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s chief education priority: a new voucher directing taxpayer dollars…
Kids Count 2017, the annual study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, found that Florida’s children experienced an overall decline in economic well-being. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida children are falling behind in economic well-being, but enjoyed gains in health, maintaining the state’s rank of 40th out of the 50 states in the latest…
Governor Scott signed HB 7069 into law at a private, voucher school in Orlando. It was a fitting setting for a bill that funnels billions of taxpayer dollars into private voucher and charter entities with little to no public oversight. This bill was created by jamming 55 different education bills into one unwieldy, 278 page…
As Hillsborough County Public Schools brace for the impact of the recently approved state education budget and new legislation (House Bill 7069), the school board held a workshop on June 20th to discuss their budget. Much of the four hours of was devoted to district leaders presenting information on budget trends dating back to the…
From the Tampa Bay Times: The clock starts today for Gov. Rick Scott who has 15 days to decide whether to sign an $82.4 billion state budget — and just how much of it he wants to veto. Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, on Wednesday is sending the budget bill (SB 2500) to Scott, who…
The Florida House is pushing to force school districts to turn over a portion of local property taxes to charter schools. These schools are housed in privately owned buildings on privately owned land that would be improved with public dollars. Some legislators are pushing to steer more money to charter schools even though a recent…
The House and Senate released their Education budgets last week with the Senate proposing more per pupil funding and less charter school construction money than the House. The House version asks property tax payers to bear much of the funding burden while the Senate expects the state to pay more. It’s early in the budget…